The invention is generally in the field of hand tools, and is more particularly concerned with a hand tool for use in relatively precise plumbing and leveling operations, such as for use in carpentry or building layout.
There have been a variety of survey and carpentry tools which have employed lasers. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,897,637, 3,771,876, 4,221,483 and 4,679,937.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,637, there is disclosed a level and squaring tool utilizing a helium-neon laser for projecting a beam both vertically and horizontally. The device was not self-leveling and required manual leveling. It was rather large and required connection to an external source of power.
Pat. No. 3,771,876 was directed to a laser apparatus for producing a plane or conical optical reference surface. The device used a pendulum hanging from a flexible suspending member, with the pendulum containing the light source so as to be self-leveling. A double mirror or prism device was used for reflecting the beam out of the device 90 degrees from the entry angle of the beam from the pendulum. The double mirror (sometimes called a pentaprism) device was fixed in the unit and allowed for changes in the angle of the approach of the light beam from the pendulum.
Rando Pat. No. 4,221,483, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a laser beam level instrument using the principle of translation of a lens which collimates a laser diode beam in order to compensate for small degrees of tilt in the instrument. The collimating lens is suspended as a pendulum and has the effect of maintaining the collimated beam in a truly vertical position providing self-leveling in a limited range of movement of the instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,937, also assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, discloses a self-leveling battery-powered surveying tool. The tool, which is designed to be set up on a tripod, provides a reference for leveling and alignment. The apparatus, which includes a laser diode as a light source for projecting a generally horizontal but, non-planar cone of light from a reflecting cone, includes a tilt compensation arrangement relevant to the present invention. The reflecting cone is suspended by a wire having a controlled stiffness which allows the mirror cone to tip at an angle which is one-half the angle of tilt error of the instrument from true plumb.
A contractor's tool for referencing a chosen elevation at a building site was marketed in the 1970s as Model 840 Building Laser, by the assignee of the present invention. The product also was capable of emitting a vertical beam. It had a helium-neon laser and was powered by an internal battery. The device was not self leveling.
None of the devices or systems disclosed in these previous patents provided a tool that was capable of the level, plumb, and alignment functions of the present invention described below, particularly as embodied in a small package with onboard battery powering of a visable laser diode and with a simple and reliable tilt compensation means. These are objects of the present invention as described below.